Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
5. Lessons of the Prophet’s Life
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giving their own personal whims the stamp of
prophetic sanction, will take the words of the
hadith
and use them to justify their selfish quarrels and
nationalistic conflicts. Islam, they will say, teaches
you to stand up for your rights like a man; it urges
you to fight in defence of your faith, your life and
property, your family and relatives. If you are
victorious, then you have achieved your ends; and
if you are defeated, then you are a martyr, and it is
only a fortunate minority who attain the heights of
martyrdom.
But those who fear God will look at the matter
soberly. After intense mind-searching they will ask
themselves: if you are required to fight in defence of
your property, life, religion and family, why then
are there cases in the Prophet’s life of his not doing
so? Why, in the face of manifest oppression, did the
Prophet—on many occasions—adopt a passive
attitude and exhort others to do the same?
The following incident, for instance, has been recorded
by Ibn Hisham on the authority of Abu ‘Uthman
al-Nahdi. When Suhayb decided to emigrate to
Madinah, the Quraysh said to him: “You came to us in
